Hope's Beginning
by AlexanderCastle
Summary: After waking up on a strange island, with no idea how he got there, one young man must set out on an adventure to figure out exactly why he is there and what his destiny is, while having plenty of misadventures along the way.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my first Runescape multichapter. It's going to stick pretty close to the canon storyline (mostly the quests) but will definitely feature subplots along the way as Cole tries to figure out exactly why he's there. And there may or may not be romance between him and an NPC at some point, but you'll just have to wait and see.**

_**Disclaimer - Jagex owns Runescape, not me.**_

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"Ugh. What the hell happened last night?"  
The young man got to his feet, stumbling slightly as he did so. Looking around, he found himself in a small house, on what seemed to be a small island (at least, from what he could tell by looking out the windows), and not one that he recognized from anywhere. "What the hell is this place?"  
A voice from behind him made him turn around. Behind him stood a tall man, at least forty years older than him, who was dressed almost entirely in red. Beneath the red beret on his head, the young man could see thinning grey hair. The older man smiled at him. "Ah, you're awake! Good! Welcome to Tutorial Island. This island is somewhat of a school for new adventurers, for want of a better term. I'm the Runescape Guide. And you are?"  
"I'm Cole".  
"A pleasure to meet you, Cole. Okay, first things first. Go outside and follow the path down the hill. There you'll meet the Survival Tutor. She'll get you started properly and teach you some of the skills you'll need in the future".  
Cole nodded. "Fine".  
_The sooner I'm done on this stupid island, the sooner I can start trying to figure out why I'm even in this place. And why I remember nothing about this at all._ He gave the Runescape Guide one last nod, before pushing open the small house's only door, and walking down the hill ahead of him.  
It took him roughly two and a half hours to slowly work his way through the rest of the tutors, during which he was taught the basics of fishing and cooking shrimp, how to safely chop trees and start fires, and how to cook bread without burning it (something that he had been good at before waking up on the island, though the tutors were still insistent that he had to go through it as well), as well as learning how to properly wield both melee and ranged weapons, how to mine and smith, and several other more minor details that he was pretty sure he'd forget once he left the island for… well, for whatever was next. He brushed a strand of his black hair out of his eyes as he looked at the building in front of him. A robed man stood a short distance in front of him, head bowed in concentration, fingers rubbing against strange round stones in his hands. After several seconds, the robed man gave a yell and flung his hands forward, an orb of solid-looking air bursting from his hands and spinning through the air to slam against one of the chickens on the other side of the small room, vaporising it on the spot. "Huh".  
Cole's exclamation of disbelief must have caught the older man's ears, as the figure turned to face him, nodding briefly. "You must be Cole. Come in, come in. I'm Wizard Terrova, the Magic tutor here. Welcome to your final lesson here on Tutorial Island. If you succeed in this, then we'll tell you how to get to the mainland where you can begin your travels. If not… You will be stuck here until you do succeed. No pressure now!"  
Cole stepped into the room, examining his surroundings carefully. Aside from the fenced-off area containing the chickens he figured acted as target practice for the man he was talking to, the room was surprisingly sparse, with the few main furnishings been a small bed, table, bookcase, wardrobe, stove and sink. _No bath? No toilet? Well, I suppose I've seen stranger things than this, and I'll probably see even stranger things by the time I get home…_ "What will my final lesson consist of?" he queried, eager to get it over with.  
Terrova smiled and held out his hands. Nestled in his palms were ten small, round, stones. Half of them were decorated with three simple white curves, and the rest were decorated with a slightly more complex sun-shape, which had two small lines inside it. "Take these runes. And use them to cast Wind Strike and kill one of the chickens in the pen right over there. Any of the chickens will do, just go ahead and pick one. If you succeed in killing it with the Wind Strike spell, we will be done here".  
Cole frowned. "And exactly how do I cast a spell with those things?"  
"First, take a deep breath and cup your hands in front of you, with the runes you need for the spell in the centre of them. Your palms should be facing upwards. Second, close your eyes and clear your mind, being sure to focus on the spell you want to cast. Third, open your eyes and focus on your target, bringing your hands forward".  
"There isn't any yelling involved, is there? Because you were doing that just before, and I've never really been much for yelling…"  
The wizard laughed, shaking his head. "No, don't worry, you don't have to yell to successfully use magic. It's just something I added into my personal spellcasting because I like doing it".  
"Alright then".  
"Good. Come and stand next to me, then, and let's see what you can do".  
Doing as the wizard said, Cole walked over to him and turned, facing towards the chicken pen on the other side of the small room. Terrova held out the ten runestones he had shown the younger man earlier, pressing them into the black-haired boy's hand. "Alright. There are your runes. Good luck".  
Following the instructions that he had been given, Cole quickly cast a spell at one of the chickens, though the spell fizzled out on impact. "Okay. Your first attempt fizzled out. That's natural and happens to everyone. Try again".  
Cole repeated the process, casting a blast of air from the palms of his hands at one of the chickens, which promptly disintegrated. Terrova nodded, satisfied. "That's good. Well done, you've completed your final lesson here. As promised, I'll tell you how to get to the main land".  
The older wizard strode over to the bookcase, returning several seconds later with an important-looking book in his hand, which he passed to the younger man. "Right. First, draw a circle in the ground around your feet. Then sit down inside the circle and turn to Page 1 of the book I just gave you, which is the basic Home Teleport spell. Read the incantation for Lumbridge. That's all you need to do. Oh, and when you get to Lumbridge, I suggest you go and talk to Phileas, the Lumbridge Sage. You'll know him when you see him. He's an old friend of mine, I'm sure he'll be able to help you. Just tell him Terrova sent you".  
Quickly doing as he had been instructed, Cole muttered the incantation and it wasn't long before everything faded around him as the courtyard of an ancient-looking stone castle replaced it. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter of Hope's Beginning!**

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"Well, this is definitely different".  
Cole paused for a minute to examine his surroundings. He was standing in the center of the courtyard of an ancient stone castle, at the exact center of a stone plus-shaped pathway. Small fountains bubbled merrily away on both the northern and southern sides of the pathway (to the left and right of where he was standing, respectively), filling the air with the trickling and pouring sounds of crystal-clear water. The stone path disappeared through a pair of tall stone columns on the other side of the castle's main gate, but from what Cole could see it split and went off in three separate directions once it did. "Guess I'll take the path for now and see where it gets me" Cole muttered to himself.  
The moment the young man walked through the gate, he was greeted by an elderly man in a blue robe who stood opposite the castle gates, by a building that Cole could tell immediately was a church. As the old man gestured to him, Cole walked over. "Young man, did you just come from Tutorial Island?" the man asked him.  
Cole nodded. "Yes. My name's Cole, Terrova sent me. You're Phileas, the Lumbridge Sage, right?"  
At the older man's nod, he continued. "Terrova said he was sure you'd be able to help me".  
"I can. What would you like to know?"  
"Can you tell me about this place?"  
"This is the town of Lumbridge. The second-largest settlement in the kingdom of Misthalin, it is surpassed in size only by the capital city of Varrock to the north. Duke Horatio, the town's ruler, lives in the castle behind you. Our town church, which has been here for several generations, lies just behind me and to my left (which is your right). Beyond that is the cemetery and then Lumbridge Swamp, which connects Lumbridge to the village of Draynor and to the famous Wizard's Tower, both of which are west of here. If you follow the path north, it'll take you further into the town into the town square where you'll find the Lumbridge General Store and Fishing Store as well as the local blacksmith, our famous Combat Academy, and the house of Explorer Jack, who is one of our more famous citizens as well as one of three local Achievement masters".  
"I'm not sure what you mean. What are Achievements?" Cole queried.  
"Assorted tasks that you can do in an area in order to earn some extra cash or items. You'll find that many of the areas will have their own 'task sets' as they refer to them, and several of them will give you items that will give you benefits in that area. That's about all I know, really. I suggest you talk to Explorer Jack if you want to know more. Although he also has a quest that he needs some help with, so quite frankly I would suggest talking to him anyway".  
"Quest?"  
"Surely you know what a quest is. An objective, or a series of objectives that, by completing, you can earn rewards, become more experienced, and unlock completely new areas to explore and things to do".  
"What other quests are there that need doing around here?" Cole queried.  
The sage gestured to the church behind him. "The priest in there is having some problems with a ghost".  
Pointing to the graveyard, which Cole could just barely make out by the church at the end of the path, the sage continued speaking. "Xenia, one of our world's most experienced heroes, is looking for help to rescue a girl who's been kidnapped by worshippers of an evil god".  
Finally, he gestured to the castle behind Cole. "The castle cook needs some help finding the ingredients for the Duke's birthday cake".  
"Thank you".  
Cole bowed slightly and turned away, but before he could go anywhere the sage spoke again. "Cole. Hang on a second".  
Cole turned back to the older man, curious. "Is something wrong?"  
"I have something else for you. Neither of these two things is information, but they should still prove useful in whatever adventures you find yourself in in the future".  
Reaching into a pocket of his robes, the old sage withdrew a device that looked similar to a PDA and then picked up a leather backpack from the ground nearby, holding both of them out to the younger man. "The backpack is enchanted. Nothing you put in there will ever spill, no matter what. It can hold up to 28 items before you'll have to empty it at a bank, so be careful. Oh, and items like money, arrows, and the magic runes we use here, only take up one space per type. The device is what we call the 'interface'. Using it, you can easily keep track of your friends and enemies, you can keep track of the tasks and quests you've completed, you can keep an eye on your inventory, you can track your 'combat level', you can cast magic with ease, keep track of your skills, check what your equipment does, you can make notes, you can play back music you've unlocked during your travels, call up a mini-map that shows you things in your immediate vicinity with greater clarity than the world map, and you can even see and access the prayers the gods have granted you".  
"Sounds like a lot for one little device..." Cole muttered.  
The old sage nodded. "It really is. But... well, what're you going to do? Everyone gets one at some point. And by the way, you can never lose either the bag or the device I just gave you, and neither can never be stolen from you. Good luck on your travels, then. I'll be here if you need me for anything in the future".  
Cole bowed quickly in thanks and turned to walk away; his mind already made up about what he was going to do first. Following the path that led down to the graveyard, he quickly spotted the concerned-looking older woman standing by the pathway. "Xenia?"  
The woman nodded. "Yes. And I'm glad someone finally came by. I need some help".  
"What's wrong?"  
"Some cultists of the evil god Zamorak have gone down into the catacombs with a prisoner. I have a rough idea of why they'd want to take her down there, but I don't want to go down there without backup. There are three of them, after all, and I'm not exactly as young as I was the last time I came here".  
"I think I'd like to know more before I agree to help you," Cole said simply.  
Xenia nodded. "Very wise. I got into a lot of trouble in my youth by rushing into a situation without knowing the full story. Ask your questions, and I'll answer them as best I can".  
"Can you tell me more about these cultists?"  
"Lumbridge is a Saradominist town, but there will always be some people drawn to worship Zamorak. They must have found some ritual that they think will give them power over people" the older woman replied.  
"Who did they kidnap?"  
"A young woman named Ilona. She had just left Lumbridge to apprentice at the Wizard's Tower near Draynor, on the other side of the Lumbridge Swamp. They grabbed her on the road. Without training, she didn't stand a chance against them".  
"What's down there, anyway?' Cole queried, gesturing towards the stairs behind Xenia that led down into the darkness underground.  
"Down there are the Lumbridge Catacombs. The dead of this town have been buried there for… oh, about forty years now, give or take a couple".  
"Alright. Last question. Is there a reward if I help you?"  
Xenia laughed. "Saving the most important question for last, I see. The cultists all have weapons, and you can keep them if we succeed. I'm sure this adventure will also be of some help in training your combat skills".  
Cole nodded. "Then let's get down there". 

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**Songs for this update:**

**These Dreams, by Heart**

**King of Wishful Thinking, by Go West**


End file.
